While cuckoo clocks are generally pendulum driven devices – typically with a standard eight day or single day movement – in recent years the market has seen the emergence of quartz powered cuckoo clocks, using modern technology to replicate the look and appeal of the original, hand crafted cuckoo clocks that still emerge from makers in the Black Forest today.

It is interesting that the first written mention of cuckoo clocks occured in the early 1600's, a time when clock making was first finding its feet, and mention of them in literature is common from then on. Quite why the cuckoo was chosen as the bird to announce the hours is lost in the annals of time, and it is thought the first of the traditional Black Forest cuckoo clocks came about in the middle of the 1700's.

Cuckoo clocks may be associated with Switzerland thanks to many popular culture references, particularly the legendary passage in the 1949 film ‘The Third Man' in which Orson Welles adds an unscripted reference to the Swiss ‘inventing' cuckoo clocks, but the Black Forest region, with which it is mostly associated, is in what is now Germany.

The Swiss influence comes about thanks to the clock and watch making industry in that country picking up on the value of these cuckoo clocks, designed in a distinctive ‘chalet' style which most people would draw when asked to depict a cuckoo clock, as tourist souvenirs ate the end of the 19 th century.

The Swiss link remains today, although the centre of production of cuckoo clocks remains very much in the Black Forest. Modern cuckoo clocks adhere to the traditional designs yet there are many that keep to the idea of having the cuckoo announce the hours but are presented in a more modern style.

Very much one for the collector and a very unique taste, cuckoo clocks represent a very European approach to clock making and design, something that is recognised the world over as a mid-European icon. Cuckoo clocks remain popular and older models are very valuable, yet overall cuckoo clocks are decorative items that are designed to sit in a particular environment. Not for the minimalist modern flat, cuckoo clocks are at their best in a rural setting, akin to the one they emerged from all those years ago.

What are Cuckoo Clocks?

Are there any timepieces more idiosyncratic than cuckoo clocks? This curious item, with its chiming gong and cuckoo call, has become synonymous - erroneously - with Switzerland and, correctly, the Bohemian areas around the Black Forest, an area where clock making took hold many years ago and is still prevalent today.

Cuckoo clocks are made to an almost standard design these days, one that harks back to the original idea which was somewhat elaborate and features carvings and depictions of leaves, trees and other items drawn from nature, while the traditional model also includes an automaton of the cuckoo, which emerges from behind doors when it makes its call.

This novelty appeal has led to cuckoo clocks becoming popular with a wide range of people, and there are collectors of antique cuckoo clocks, some of which can fetch vast amounts of money.